There is no other Savior

Isaiah 43:11-12 (NLT)
11 I, yes I, am the Lord, and there is no other Savior. 12 First I predicted your rescue, then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world. No foreign god has ever done this. You are witnesses that I am the only God,” says the Lord.

God's people are witnesses for him, and can attest, upon their own knowledge and experience, concerning the power of his grace, the sweetness of his comforts, the tenderness of his providence, and the truth of his promise. They step forward as a witness for him that he is gracious and that no word of his has fallen to the ground. They can testify of the Lord’s promise of Salvation and that no other god offers such a plan of redemption. For all the prophets testified of Christ and His coming and God’s promise was fulfilled as He stated.

 

 

During the early months of 2005, Zondervan publishing company launched its biggest marketing campaign ever, costing about $1 million, and placing ads in everything from Relevant (a Christian magazine aimed at twenty somethings), to VH1 and MTV's websites. This campaign is to promote a new Bible translation aimed at spiritually curious 18-34 year-olds. The momentum hit a major bump in the road, however, when one of the magazines key to this promotion, Rolling Stone, pulled Zondervan's ad in early January just weeks before the scheduled run date.

Zondervan bought space in the February issue to promote Today's New International Version of the Bible. This ad, and others that are running in secular media like The Onion and Modern Bride, does not mention "God;" rather, it mentions "real truth" in a world of "endless media noise and political spin," and a blue Bible appears in the corner of the ad. Each ad carries the slogan: "Timeless truth; Today's language."

And that assertion of "truth" evidently triggered the rebuff from Rolling Stone.

Kent Brownridge, general manager of Wenner Media, parent company of Rolling Stone, commented that the ad "doesn't quite feel right in the magazine." Executives cited an unwritten policy against ads containing religious messages, though they would not comment on why they sold the space to Zondervan, the nation's largest Bible publisher, in the first place. Nor did they accept Zondervan's offer to change the ad text.

Kent Brownridge commented that, "The copy is a little more than an ad for the Bible. It's a religious message that I personally don't disagree with. We are not in the business of publishing advertising for religious messages."

Doug Lockhart, Zondervan's marketing vice president, commented that they are "really surprised and disappointed…. Rolling Stone was a perfect fit for the group we want to reach. This rejection underscores the challenge we face."

Two weeks later, however, Rolling Stone reversed course and decided to accept the ad from Zondervan. "We have addressed the internal miscommunications that led to the previous misstatement of company policy and apologize for any confusion it may have caused," Lisa Dallos, spokeswoman for Wenner Media, Rolling Stone's parent company, said.   [http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2005-01-17-bible-ad_x.html; submitted by Dana Beatty, Schaumburg, IL]

 

 

The troublesome part of this article is where it stated, “Executives cited an unwritten policy against ads containing religious messages, though they would not comment on why they sold the space to Zondervan, the nation's largest Bible publisher, in the first place. Nor did they accept Zondervan's offer to change the ad text.” 

But obviously someone stood up as a witness for God and convinced those at the magazine that the ad for Zondervan should be run. Those who are Christians are witnesses for God and they need to tell others God is the only God and there is no other.  Hear the words of God that say, “I, yes I, am the Lord, and there is no other Savior.”